I have loved reading Francis Mayes (Under the Tuscan Sun, Bella Tuscany, Every Day in Tuscany) for years. I thought I might share some of her insights into this glorious region of the world.
"Festina Tarde was a Renaissance concept: Make haste slowly. Often it was represented by
a snake with its tail in its mouth, by a dolphin entwined with an an anchor, or by a figure of a seated
woman holding wings in one hand and a tortoise in the other."
Mayes writes this in the chapter about how slow everything is taking to get their house in Italy finished. The Italians have a completely different concept of time than we Americans do. We want everything done NOW! We will often skip meals or skip engagements or appointments in order to get things accomplished. Italians will have none of that. Two hour lunches are sacred! The local soccer team playing on the television is never to be missed! The "passegiatta", evening stroll around town, is looked forward to like Christmas! These are the important things in life, not getting a wall painted or a ceiling repared. This will happen eventually. Don't worry signora!
Another Italian concept is "Dolce far Niente": the sweetness of doing nothing! How lovely that the word "dolce" means both "sweet" and "dessert"! To Italians, sitting in the piazza watching the world go by, is like having dessert after a wonderful meal. It is something to look forward to, and after having had it, one is full and satisfied and very happy. The Italian lifestyle appeals to the dessert-lover in me!
And yet how many times have we Americans felt that having "time on our hands" was a reason for guilt? We seek to fill up that time with as much stuff (often quite meaniingless) as we can think of. Or we sit there saying, "I should be doing . . . . ", instead of realizing what a sweet moment we have in doing nothing. It is good for us to not fill every waking moment with things to do.
I remember a phrase from many years ago, "Stop, and smell the roses". The Italians are quite happy to do that - ahhh, the sweetness of doing nothing! Here again, let me share with you some of Mayes writings as she lists her joys on a particular day:
"* Green lizard flying from the rim of one geranium pot to the next
* To see the perfume of a handful of wild strawberries
* To feel the greeny translucence of a thin slice of fennel
* Golden October leaves sticking to a marble statue in the park
* Three ancient ladies in dark print dresses, their backs to the view of Santa Maria
Nuova, visiting in the winter sun. Immortal.
* Rolling fields of late June with clumps of late red poppies amid tawny wheat. I noted the
purple-black Maltese cross printed inside a few of the thousands of red poppies
volunteering for service. Years of seeing poppies and now I discover the magical hidden
cross in the center of the blood-red petals. How life continues to open and amaze."
Since I can not paint or sketch I shall use her example of "painting with words" - simple observations
which I can capture on paper and then can recall many years later that sensation of living in the moment on a lovely day in Tuscany.
And now I shall leave you with some photos of some of the villages we will be walking to next month. I probably will continue showing photos of Italy for the next few posts as I am getting ready to spend 17 glorious days in La Bella Italia enjoying La Dolce Vita!
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| Chianti countryside |
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| Chianti countryside |
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| Piazza in Cortona |
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| Beautiful Florence - home of the Renaissance |
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| The hilltop town of Greve |
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